Rebirth on Pandora
by BeckyL97
Summary: A young Na'vi prays to Eywa in her final, dying moments to give her a chance at life again. Eywa answers her prayers...but not in the way the young Na'vi could have ever expected...
1. Chapter 1

**Rebirth on Pandora**

**Chapter One: Miracle at the Tree of Souls**

**A young female Na'vi ran through the forest with panic in her heart and eyes. She knew this forest well, but the creature chasing her knew it even better. The gigantic black creature thundered after her on its many legs, and its intimidating growl echoed through the night.**

**In the Na'vi language, the creature was called a Palulukan. But the cursed Sky People knew the creature as a Thanator.**

**The individual that was chasing the young Na'vi was an adult female Palulukan. The young Na'vi had wandered too close to the fierce creature's young and was now suffering the consequences. The creature was even closer than before, and the young Na'vi could feel its breath on her back. Suddenly the creature snapped its jaws and the young Na'vi darted to one side, but the mighty Palulukan's jaws clipped her arm and she screamed. The wound began bleeding, and the young Na'vi felt like she could faint at any moment, but she had to keep running. She simply had to survive. And the young Na'vi was running to the only place she knew where she would be safe, or at least die in peace…**

**She was running to the sacred Tree of Souls.**

**She could feel that she was getting closer. The young Na'vi could sense that the creature behind her was not tiring. But all of a sudden the massive female Palulukan skidded to a halt. It gave a fierce growl again, but did not follow the young Na'vi further. The young Na'vi just kept running. But she was beginning to run out of strength entirely.**

**Only a minute later, the Tree of Souls was in sight. The Palulukan was long gone. The young Na'vi staggered up to the tree and collapsed to her knees. Blood still trickled down her arm from the wound, and she could feel her life steadily seeping away. She only had a little time left on the world of Pandora, she could sense it.**

**The young Na'vi switched her attentions to the other side of the tree. A shadow descended from the sky and had landed somewhat clumsily nearby. It was an Ikran, or as the Sky People called them, a Mountain Banshee. This particular specimen had jet black skin with purple markings and golden eyes. It was reasonably large, even for an Ikran. But what was even more shocking about it was that its wing was almost ripped to shreds. Most likely it had been attacked by a Toruk, or Great Leonopteryx. Even still, both the young Na'vi and the Ikran were obviously dying…**

**In her last moments, the young Na'vi connected herself to the Tree of Souls, and she saw that, quite to her surprise, the Ikran had done the same. The creature then collapsed and its eyes flickered shut. The young Na'vi struggled to keep herself awake. In her last breath, she managed to send up a prayer to Eywa, and though she didn't know it, the Ikran sent up the same prayer…**

_**Merciful Eywa, give me another chance to live…**_

**A pair of eyes snapped back open. A head was raised from the ground.**

_**This can't be right. I was DEAD. What's happened?**_

**The individual disconnected themselves from the Tree of Souls and looked about. They froze when they laid eyes on the body of a young Na'vi lying dead under the tree.**

**But…but that's ME! How can that be me? I'm right here! I'm…**

**She looked down and found herself looking down upon a pair of claws, connected to black and purple wings. She realized the truth. Eywa had given her life…and given her the body of the dying Ikran she had seen. **

_**Thank you, merciful Eywa!**_

**Flexing her new wings, she took one last look at what had once been her body. She gave a brief sigh, and then turned her head to the sky. It was morning.**

_**I guess it's time to start your new life, Txon.**_

**The black Ikran took flight and gave a shriek of celebration. She was alive! And it was about time she REALLY learnt how to live…**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two: Spreading her wings**

_**I never thought flying would be so fun!**_

**Txon, as she now decided to call herself, had been completely shocked at first. Eywa had given her life once more in a brand new body…and the body of an Ikran, no less! But now Txon was thinking through many ideas of what she was to do next. She knew something of the life of wild Ikrans from what she had observed in wild specimens and been told by her elders, but she had no idea of what should be her next action.**

**One thing had come to her straight away…the ability of flight. Somehow, she knew how to fly right away. Txon could only narrow this down to the Ikran's natural insticts or yet more help from Eywa. The former of the two ideas was probably the one most likely to be true. Either way, Txon had taken flight and without so much as a second thought she had set a course for the one place she knew the Ikrans always went…the Ayram alusing, or the Hallelujah Mountains as the Sky-People called them. What she would do when she got there was not clear at that moment, but she was sure that she would figure it out. She would have to if she wanted to live a full life in her new Ikran body.**

**Still, she found that flying was incredibly enjoyable. She loved the feel of the air currents welling under her wings, allowing her to soar high up into the air and glide with barely a movement of the wings at all. Once she was tempted to perform a somersault in the air, and she did this, finding it more fun than anything else she had ever experienced. She knew that she would miss her Na'vi body, but she would have to concentrate on her new form. She would have to look to the future instead of dwelling on her past.**

**It was then that she saw a group of other Ikrans flying just ahead of her, and they too seemed to be enjoying the pleasures of flight, performing acrobatic feats of such complexity that they left Txon stunned. She was tempted to fly near them but was unsure of how the majestic creatures would react.**

_**Only one way to find out…**_

**Txon took in a deep breath of the rich Pandoran air and swooped through the air, ending up a very short distance away from the group of other Ikrans. They immediately took notice of her, and one flew closer. This specimen was a bright shade of light green, with a purple jaw-crest and some red markings. They were slightly larger than Txon, and for a moment Txon worried about what would happen next.**

_**Greetings, fellow Ikran.**_

**Txon could hardly describe it. She could understand this Ikran's 'speech', though it used no words. It was like the Ikrans had a language and she was not able to understand it. Seeing as this Ikran seemed peaceful enough, Txon decided to reply to them.**

_**Greetings.**_

**The other Ikran seemed to examine her briefly for a moment or two. One of the other Ikrans this one was flying with had noticed Txon's presence, but did not approach as this green Ikran had.**

_**What is your name?**_

**From the 'voice' that Txon heard, she could tell that this Ikran was male. Once again she replied as calmly as possible.**

_**I am Txon, my friend. What would your name be?**_

**The green Ikran performed another aerial somersault and Txon felt compelled to copy this feat. So she did. Straightening out her flight again, she looked over to the other Ikran, and from the bizarre chattering noise he was making she could have sworn he was laughing in pleasure of his acrobatics.**

_**Ah, Txon. The name suits a black Ikran such as yourself very well. My name is Tanhì.**_

**Tanhì. Txon thought that it was a beautiful name. It was the Na'vi word for 'star' and suited this brightly-coloured Ikran well.**

_**A beautiful name, if I may say so.**_

**At Txon's compliment, Tanhì gave another soft chattering sound that sounded a little like chuckling laughter.**

_**Where are you going, Txon?**_

**Txon looked a little embarrassed, if it was possible for an Ikran to look like she was blushing.**

_**I don't exactly know. I'm just going where my insticts take me. At the moment they're taking me to the Ayram alusing.**_

**Tanhì looked mildly surprised, but again he gave the soft laughter-like chattering noise.**

_**In which case, you may follow us, my friend. That is where we are going as well.**_

**Txon gave the slightest of nods and performed a twisting somersault, an action that was copied not only by Tanhì but by the other Ikrans that were with him.**

_**Alright, I shall follow you. Lead the way, Tanhì.**_

**Her new Ikran friend flew just ahead and she fell into some sort of formation behind him with the few other Ikrans that were already with him. They too greeted her and introduced each other by name; their names were Txur, Atan and Hawnu. Hawnu was the only female of the group and Txon grew to like her. She seemed like a good friend, as did Tanhí.**

**But she had no idea of what would happen next…something that would endanger Txon's life again.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Rebirth on Pandora**

**Chapter 3: Fight in Flight**

**Txon flew with the group of other wild Ikrans as if she had been doing so all her life. Two of them had left to fly elsewhere but Hawnu and Tanhì had stayed with Txon, with Tanhì leading the way to their destination. Occasionally they would pause and perform various acrobatic feats just for the pleasure of it, and Txon enjoyed this. She grew to like both Tanhì and Hawnu like best friends.**

**Tanhì was the first Ikran Txon had communicated with since her unusual resurrection into the body of a black Ikran, and he seemed nice enough. He was a bright green Ikran with a purple jaw-crest and a friendly yet courteous personality. He was very polite to Txon and he would often engage in casual conversation with her, and Txon didn't mind this at all. It was nice to meet an Ikran who was so nice.**

**Hawnu was one of the three Ikrans that had been with Tanhì when Txon had first seen them, the other two having flown away by now. Hawnu was a large, somewhat bulky female Ikran with lilac-coloured skin and some blue markings. Another unusual thing about Hawnu was the fact that she had bright blue eyes. Txon had never seen or heard of a blue-eyed Ikran before. Either way, Hawnu was a cheerful and infectiously optimistic creature who enjoyed nothing more than to tell jokes and make other Ikrans laugh, or so it seemed. Txon had realised early on that Hawnu was somewhat older than her. But the two got along perfectly well all the same.**

**As they flew, Tanhì once again tried to strike up a conversation.**

_**We're almost there, Txon.**_

**Txon nodded. She flexed her wings and performed an aerial somersault, something that her two newfound friends copied. It seemed a little harder for Hawnu, who was larger than the other two and older as well. As they straightened out again, she heard a screeching noise from high above her and looked up to see yet another Ikran. It swooped low over the Ikran trio, making persistent screeching sounds as it flew by. Hawnu made the bizarre chattering noise that Txon had recognised to be the Ikran equivalent to laughter.**

_**They want to race us.**_

**Txon seemed somewhat surprised by this.**

_**To where?**_

**It was Tanhì who spoke up next, directing his 'speech' at the other Ikran who had just flown by them. That Ikran had flown over them and repeated the sounds he had uttered before. It was clearly intent on racing them all. Tanhì screeched to gain their attention and then spoke.**

_**We are heading for the Ayram alusìng, my friend. Would you like to race us there?**_

**In response the other Ikran nodded and performed a somersault. Txon felt nervous. She had never been in a race such as this before…how on Pandora was she going to cope? Fortunately, it all came naturally to her as the race began with the other Ikran swooping ahead of them at incredible speed with Tanhì and Hawnu close behind. Txon took a deep breath and swooped after them. She could almost feel the air move past her as she flew, and she quickly overtook Hawnu, who gave that chattering laugh of hers.**

_**Impressive! You're really fast!**_

**Hawnu made an effort to catch up to Txon and the two were soon engaging in 'fierce' competition, with one taking the lead for a brief moment and then finding herself behind the others. Both laughed while this was going on and, after a minute or two, Txon finally worked up enough speed to overtake Hawnu completely. She surged after Tanhì and the other Ikran who were just ahead of her. Tanhì was currently in the lead but the other Ikran was right on his tail, and Txon was gaining on them fast. In fact, she took the other Ikran by surprise when she caught up to them, and they shrieked when they saw her. They had not expected to see her catching up to them.**

_**Woah! You're pretty fast! How did you catch up to me like that?**_

**Txon's reply was a simple one.**

_**With skill.**_

**She gave the other Ikran one last smug glance before swooping and overtaking them, much to their surprise, she was sure. She was quickly flying alongside Tanhì, who gave a bizarre call that Txon realized to be a chuckle.**

_**Your flying skills are most impressive, Txon. But I'm afraid that you shan't beat me!**_

**If Ikrans had eyebrows, then Txon would have raised hers as she gave her own Ikran-laugh in response to Tanhì's comment.**

_**Oh really? I'd like to see you TRY and beat me!**_

**Tanhì had evidently taken up her challenge and he gave an Ikran-laugh before surging forward through the air. Txon followed the bright green Ikran, copying their every move. She was feeling the heat of the competition now. She felt like she just HAD to win! This was the most fun thing she had ever done.**

**After a minute more she saw that the Ayram alusìng, or Hallelujah Mountains, were in sight. This was it. The final push of the race. With tremendous effort, Txon doubled her speed and so did Tanhì, the two engaging in tight competition, both eager to win. Hawnu and the other Ikran were still behind them, but were gaining fast. Txon took in a deep breath.**

_**Now or never…**_

**Txon overtook her new friends for the final short distance of the race, much to Tanhì's surprise. She passed the first of the 'floating mountains' before her new friends did, thus winning their race. She gave a shriek of delight and performed a somersault. She heard her Ikran friends making that chattering laughter in congratulations to her. Txon felt immensely happy.**

_**Great win! You sure can fly with the best of 'em!**_

**The other Ikran who had challenged them to the race in the first place flew up. Txon gave a slight purr of pleasure upon hearing this. She was a little tired but she felt ecstatically happy inside.**

_**Thanks. You weren't too bad yourself!**_

**Her speech was not just directed at the other Ikran but was also directed at Tanhì and Hawnu, the latter of which had just caught up. Hawnu was chattering in laughter again, and Tanhì was quick to congratulate the newcomer on their good flying. Txon flew over and said goodbye to the newcomer as they turned to fly away, performing a last somersault as they went. It seemed to Txon like they were showing off. But she didn't mind that.**

_**Come, Txon. Let's hurry to the Ayram alusìng.**_

**Tanhì nudged Txon gently with his head and they started flying again. They were all slightly tired but determined not to show it. After a few moments, Txon heard Tanhì speak up again.**

_**Txon, my friend, have you been here before?**_

**Txon struggled to answer this question, because she HAD been there before, but only in her old Na'vi body. She eventually chose the answer that sounded most sane.**

_**No, I have not. I come from a place far from here.**_

**Tanhì seemed to nod at this and did not question it. A moment or two later he spoke again.**

_**In which case, why don't you follow us to the rookery? I'm sure the other Ikrans won't mind your presence. Newcomers are usually welcome so long as they are peaceful…like you!**_

**Txon was slightly surprised at this but grinned inwardly and hummed to herself.**

_**That would be very nice. I will come with you.**_

**Tanhì gave a cheerful screech in response to this and somersaulted through the air. Txon followed him in this gesture but Hawnu did not. Evidently she was more tired than them. Txon swooped and flew alongside Hawnu and gave a concerned growling sound.**

_**Hawnu, my friend, are you alright? Do you need to rest?**_

**Hawnu seemed about to respond to this until there came an extremely loud, fearful shriek from Tanhì. The one word he cried out gave away why he was scared all of a sudden.**

_**TORUK!**_

**Immediately Txon was made alert. She glanced upwards and shrieked when she saw the Last Shadow, otherwise known as a Great Leonopteryx, swooping down at them. She dodged the mighty creature's jaws and talons and flew up to the other two, who had also avoided it, and they set off towards their destination at their maximum speed. They were tired, but none of them could stop. The Toruk was chasing them.**

**And Txon certainly had no intention of becoming Toruk food that day, or any other day…**


	4. Chapter 4

**Rebirth on Pandora**

**Chapter 4: Aerial Battle**

**The Toruk was after the trio of Ikrans. Fear danced in the eyes of the Toruk's intended prey as they flew onwards. Tanhì flew on level with Txon, while Hawnu flew a fraction behind. Txon was scared not only for her own life, but for her friend's lives, especially for Hawnu. Cheerful Hawnu was somewhat older than the other two and she was struggling to keep up, being tired from the race they had all had just before. It was evident that Tanhì was concerned, too, but they all had to keep flying at top speed.**

_**Hawnu, hold fast! We can make it!**_

**Tanhì's urgent tones resounded in Txon's head and Hawnu responded by trying to fly a little faster. The Toruk was literally right on their tails. Txon could feel the dreaded creature's breath on her scaly skin. It snapped its jaws and narrowly missed taking a piece out of Hawnu's wing. Suddenly, though, the Toruk snapped again and Hawnu cried out in agony. Txon realised that the Toruk had grabbed her Ikran friend by the tail and had tossed her through the air. Hawnu crashed into one of the many 'floating mountains' around them and fell a little distance before regaining her posture in the air. But she was panicked, and with good reason. Now separated from the group, Hawnu would be much more likely to fall to the mighty Toruk's fearsome jaws…and the predator was after her again!**

_**Tanhì, the Toruk…it's going to kill Hawnu…**_

**Txon looked over to Tanhì, who seemed just as distraught as she was. **

_**But what can we do?**_

**The Toruk was catching up to the tired Hawnu. It was then that Txon made a decision.**

_**I'll tell you what we can do, my friend…we can FIGHT BACK!**_

**Tanhì looked horrified but Txon paid him no mind. She performed a somersault and flew straight upwards. When she was directly above the Toruk, Txon dived straight at the mighty creature with her jaws wide open. She knew that the creature would never see an attack coming from above. With an almighty screech of fury Txon made contact with the Toruk, biting deep into the creature's neck with her sharp teeth. She tasted blood; the blood of the Toruk was foul and bitter. The creature itself gave a shriek of pain and made a nose-dive to shake the irritation from its neck. Txon clung on, clawing and biting the mighty Toruk to stop it from attacking Hawnu further. Hawnu had landed on a rock ledge and was breathing heavily. Her wing seemed a little torn because she had slammed into the rock face with violence but Txon was sure that Hawnu would be alright. Txon was snapped back to reality when the Toruk finally managed to shake her off. Txon fell a little way and then caught an updraft, regaining her composure in the air. The Toruk turned in the air and faced her, rage burning in its eyes. Txon felt scared, but she could not back down…for the sake of her friends. She could not see Tanhì, so Txon concluded to herself that her friend had landed with Hawnu.**

**Then Txon heard the voice of the Toruk in her head. It was louder than anything Txon could have ever imagined…so much so that she very nearly fell from the sky. What was more, Txon could tell from the voice that the creature was male.**

_**YOU INSIGNIFICANT PEST! YOU ARE NOTHING MORE THAN AN INSECT COMPARED TO ME! YOU HONESTLY THINK THAT YOU, LITTLE ONE, ARE A MATCH FOR THE MIGHT OF THE LAST SHADOW?**_

**Txon was terrified by the voice, but her willingness to protect her friend took over and Txon held her ground…or, rather, held her sky. She looked the Toruk right in the eyes.**

_**I am not a little one…I…AM…TXON!**_

**With that, Txon launched herself directly at the fierce creature with a surprising turn of speed. The Toruk tried to grab Txon but she was too fast, dodging out of the way and attacking the Toruk's neck again. It screeched in irritation and tried to shake her off…but Txon still clung desperately to the creature. She would keep up her attack until the Toruk backed down…or until it killed her. At least she would have died in the knowledge that her courage did not desert her in the final moment.**

**The Toruk shook her off again and this time managed to grab her in its powerful jaws. It shook her like a terrier on Earth would shake a dead rat. Txon screamed out in agony, trying to escape the Toruk's grasp and attack again.**

_**NOBODY…HURTS…MY FRIENDS!**_

**The voice surprised Txon. She glanced upwards. She saw Tanhì diving straight at the Toruk's head, teeth bared, hissing in fury. The lime-green Ikran collided with the red creature with force enough to make it cry out, dropping Txon in the process. She could not keep up the flight much longer, she knew that. She flew over to where Hawnu had landed and nudged her friend with her snout. Hawnu gave a soft growling noise.**

_**Txon, I can never thank you enough for your bravery.**_

**Txon nodded, looking over to Tanhì. The Ikran had latched onto the side of the huge Toruk's face, out of reach of the thing's powerful jaws. Suddenly, Tanhì bit down upon one of the Toruk's main eyes, causing it to scream in agony. From the blood that Txon could see even from her distance, she guessed that Tanhì had bitten the eyeball out. It was all too much for the Toruk, who started to fly away. Tanhì launched himself off the creature's face and flew a distance away, before turning to make sure that the Toruk really was retreating. It was, but it yelled over its shoulder as it went.**

_**CURSE YOU, LITTLE IKRANS! MARK MY WORDS I'LL SEE YOUR BLOOD SPILT BEFORE MY LIFE ENDS! I SWEAR TO IT!**_

**Paying the injured Toruk no more attention, Tanhì flew over to Hawnu and Txon. He nudged each of them in turn and then bent his head down to Txon.**

_**Txon…your courage was inspirational to me. I've never before witnessed an Ikran attack a Toruk like that. But…why?**_

**Txon had only one reply to that, and if she was capable of smiling then she would have.**

_**What are friends for?**_

**The green Ikran placed his head next to hers and made a soft purring noise. Txon was surprised at this…normally, Ikrans only made this noise when courting each other. Nevertheless, her friend then raised his head and looked about.**

_**We'd better rest for a while. It's safer that way. We don't want to strain ourselves.**_

**Hawnu nodded. Txon nodded as well. They were all agreed to stay there for a little more time.**

**The three Ikrans ended up drifting into sleep. But Txon had a dream, and a puzzling one at that. She pictured the shadows of three Ikrans flying together, joining a swarm of many more Ikrans who were flying behind a Toruk. The flying creatures seemed about to attack something when Txon heard a voice, the dream fading.**

_**Txon, your courage is proven. You will need it in times to come…**_


End file.
